Hello new followers of my blog because of this picture. Here’s the story:
I work at a Veterinary Hospital that does both dog and cat boarding. This is our cat boarding room, and the cat you see there is Professor Jiggly. His full name is actually Professor Jiggly Hammish, but there wasn’t enough room on the post it note to write that. Professor Jiggly is a Bengal kitten (currently 10 months old). My job title is Animal Caretaker, so I get to feed and clean up after and play with all of the boarding pets. Professor Jiggly is not my cat, but he does have an owner. He is not for adoption and is extremely well-cared-for. He has already gone home and is no longer boarding at the clinic but he will be back again.
Professor Jiggly is loud. Anytime you walk into the cat room he is meowing for all he is worth, sticking his paws through the bars of his condo for attention. So I let him out to explore the room. You can see I tried to give him a couple of toys and I even sprinkled some catnip for him but he just wanted to check out the room. I put a post it note on the door so that no one would open the door and accidentally let him out into the rest of the clinic.
This was as I was walking away to go tend to someone else, and he was was meowing because he wanted me to go back in there and pet him.
While a sewing machine is super convenient, having access to one is not required for mending. Most mends can easily be done by hand. If you're really patient, you can even make entire garments by hand, just like they did in ye olden days.
So, let's take a look at a few basic hand sewing stitches to get you started.
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(Image source) [ID: hand stitches for quilters: the running stitch, slipstitch, backstitch, whipstitch, and blanket stitch.]
The running stitch
The running stitch can be used for many purposes. It's popular in embroidery, and can be used to outline shapes or baste (temporarily secure) pieces together. It can also be used to ruffle fabric by hand, and I personally use it a lot to secure patches in place when covering up holes in garments. The running stitch is also the base stitch for sashiko, a popular style of visible mending.
The slipstitch, also known as the ladder stitch, is my go-to stitch for closing tears and fixing torn seams. This stitch is frequently used to sew pieces of knitting together, too. You can also use it to make small size corrections in a garment, for example to add a quick dart or to make a side seam smaller. It's invisible on the outside, which makes it a great stitch to fix up things like plushies, duvet covers, or pillows.
The backstitch will likely be the stitch you'll be using the most when working on a project. It's a strong, clean stitch that can be used for almost anything: seams, hems, embroidery, attaching two pieces of fabric together, zippers,... This is also the best stitch to imitate machine sewing with. If you're only going to learn one hand sewing stitch, then make it the backstitch!
The whipstitch, also known as the overcast stitch, can be used to stop fabric edges from fraying and is great to finish seams off with. It can also be used to quickly sew two pieces of fabric together, for appliqué, or as a decorative technique. I personally prefer the blanket stitch over the whipstitch because it's a little cleaner, but the whipstitch is faster than the blanket stitch.
The blanket stitch is great for finishing off seams and stopping fabric from fraying. It's also frequently used for appliqué and embroidery, and can be usedto make button holes by hand. It looks neater than the whipstitch, but is also slower to get done.
Get yourself a spare piece of fabric and try these stitches out before attempting them on a real project. I promise you'll get the hang of them quickly!
If you're only going to learn one of these, then make it the backstitch as it's the most versatile hand stitch.
Weather is getting warmer and I've been thinking about Cardassian swimwear. It should definitely cover both body "spoons", but since it is swimwear it could be a bit more casual and revealing.
Sooo, have a look at Damar in swimsuit relaxing somewhere on the beach!